Insulating package



July 19, 1938. R. T. WALKER INSULATING PACKAGE Filed Oct. 26, 1955 W MmT,

M m fi m g Patented Jufly 133%. v

. matte PATENT oFFic IINSULATHNG PACKAGE Robert '1. Walker, Detroit,Mich, assignor to zonolite Corporation of Michigan, Detroit, Mich, acorporation of Michigan Application October 26, 1935, Serial No. 46,909

3 Claims.

' specifically understood that the use of the package is not limited torefrigerators.

In the manufacture of refrigerators it is common practice 'to insertbetween the inner and outer walls of the refrigerator a material havinga high heat insulating value. Various types of insulating materials havebeen used heretofore but a special problem has arisen in those cases inwhich an insulator is used which will settle or pack when subjected tovibrations and jarring i such as occurs during the assembly andtransportation of the refrigerator or insulating package.

Amongsuch insulating materials which will settle when vibrated or jarredduring handling and shipment may be mentioned the exfoliated ver- 0miculitessuch as zonolite, rock and mineral wool, and other insulatingmaterials in which the porosity is a large factor in its insulatingvalue.

It is an object of this invention to obviate the settling and packing ofthose insulating materials such as above mentioned and to produce apack- 1 aging arrangement for such materials which will maintain them insubstantially their original condition and thereby insure the originalinsulating value of the material.

When the above .mentioned kinds of insulating materials are put up inpackage form so that the packages, for example, may be inserted betweenthe inner and outer walls of a refrigerating cabinet for insulatingpurposes, it is desirable that the walls of the package be as thin andlight as possible. HoweverTwherr the. walls are'made of some such lightmaterial as paper, cardboard, or other fibrous board, the settling ofthe insulating material will cause the package to bulge and get out ofshape thus making it unfit for use between the walls of therefrigerator.

It is an object of this invention to produce a package from a lightweight paper or cardboard material which will maintain its originalpredetermined dimensions .during shipmentand handling.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an insulating package which incorporatesthe instant invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are sections along the lines 2-2 and 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a section along the line 3-4 of Fig. 3. Q

Fig. 5 shows a refrigerator partly broken away between the inner andouter walls of which is positioned an insulating package incorporatingthe instant invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawing there is shown apackage-generally designated I which incorporates the instant invention.This package comprises side walls 2, front walls 3, and end walls 4.When a package such asthis is filled with zonolite or some otherinsulating ma-' terial which will pack upon being jarred or vibratedeach portion of the material must sup- 10 port the portion above it. Thepacking of the insulating material decreases its porosity and itsinsulating value is correspondingly impaired. It

' is proposed to eliminate this packing ,of the insulating material bydividing the body of insulati ing material into contiguous zones andeach of which is relieved from supporting alone the entire Weight of thezone or zones of insulating material above it. This is the underlyingprinciple of the instant invention and this principle 'may be worked outin numerous ways. The side, front and end Walls of the package are madefrom a light weight cardboard, paper board, or other fiber board. Forpurposes of description, although it is 5 specifically understood thatthe invention is not limited to the exact form shown, the inner opposedfaces of the walls of the container are provided with a paper facing 5of light weight paper material having corrugati ons'ii. These cor- 30rugations, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, extend horizontally so that theyare positioned transversely of a vertical plane so that the corrugationsserve as shelves 01 supports for the insulating material into contiguouszones thus relieving any zone of 35 the insulating, material from theweight of the material above it.

The insulating material 7 herein shown is zonolite which is anexfoliated vermiculite. It will be seen that the zonolite upon thefilling of the package flows or works into the corrugations. The upperface of each corrugation acts as a shelf and the zonolite itself betweenthe corrugations will mesh and in some degree arch between thecorrugations on the front wall 3 and 45 rear wall 8 ofthe package. Thusthe corrugations 6 actually support in some measure more than merely theportion of the zonolite which is vertically above the upper face of eachcorrugation.

It has been found that this shelving action on the part of thecorrugation supports a. suiilcient portion of the weight of the zonoliteto completely eliminate packing-of the zonolite and bulging of thebottom part of the walls of the pack- 55 stood that the invention can beapplied to any age during transportation and the handling whichaccompanies assembling the package within the refrigerator. .Thencorrugations also. in themselves'help somewhat to strengthen the wallsof the package. a

The package may also; be provided with an inside stifienerin the form ofa strip of corrugated paper 9 which extends vertically along the middleand from one end to the other. of the package. 'The stiffener isprovided within flanges III which may be glued, cemented or otherwisesecured to the inside face of the front and rear 1 walls of thecontainer. The stiffener strip 9 is also provided with a facing of lightweight paper provided with horizontal corrugations 6. After the packagehas been filled'and the ends sealed, the entire package may be coveredwith a suitable waterproof coating of parafiin or similarwaterproofmaterial or preferably a waterproof paper II.

In Fig. 5 there is shown a refrigerator cabinet having an insidewali I2and an outside wall l3. During the assembly of the refrigerator cabinetthe space between the inside walls 12 and outside walls l3 may be filledwith insulating packages I such as above described. These packagespreferably are pre-fabricated according to the size of the space betweenthe inner and outer walls of the refrigerator into which they areinserted.

Although the invention is herein shown in: corporated in an insulatingpackage it is undercovered with dent to handling and transporting of thepackage, and a corrugated facing for each of the inside walls of thecontainer having contiguous corrugations extending horizontally wherebythe said corrugations support contiguous zones of insulating materialone above another and prevent settling of the insulating material andbulging of the package. y I

- 2. An insulating package having predetermined dimensions comprising incombination a fibrous cardboard container, a filler for said containercomprising a continuous body of loosely packed particles of exfoliatedvermiculite, the strength of the walls of the said container beinginsufficient alone without bulging to support the said exfoliatedvermiculite when subjected to vibration incident to handling-andtransporting of the package, and a corrugated lining for each of theopposed inside faces of the container having the corrugations extendinghorizontally and throughout a substantial portion of the height of thecontainer, the corrugations of the one lining being positioned directlyopposite the corrugations of the other lining, the said corrugationssupporting contiguous zones of the exfoliated vermiculite one aboveanother whereby settling of the vermiculite and bulging of the packageis prevented.

3. An insulating package comprising in combination a fibrous cardboardcontainer, a filler for said container comprising a continuous body ofloosely packed particles of insulating material encompassing amultiplicity of pores, corrugated linings secured to opposed walisof thecontainer in spaced relation to form a continuous straight, passagewayfor the insulating material from the top to the bottom of the con- 7tainer, the corrugations of the one lining being positioned directlyopposite the corrugations of the other lining, the said corrugationsextending horizontally and throughout a substantial portion of theheight of the container to support contiguous zones of the insulatingmaterial one above the other whereby each zone is relieved of supportinga substantial portion of the weight of the zone or zones above it andsettling of the insulating material and bulging of the package isprevented.

ROBERT T. WALKER.

